Guanabana ( Soursop ) ZONE 9 ???

[bovine421]

That is a very worthy Endeavor your embarked upon. Hopefully you can achieve two to three degrees more cold hardiness. That would be beneficial for South Floridians if a new more cold-hardy variety can be discovered.

[Scotthomestead]

Here is my young soursop after 6hours of 31 degrees, a few nights ago. This and the bananas and took the worst damage. The mangos made it it with very little damage.

[850FL]

Here is my young soursop after 6hours of 31 degrees, a few nights ago. This and the ban and took the worst damage. The mangos made it it with very little damage.

The mangos surprise me with their cold tolerance out of most the tropicals

[Bush2Beach]

What did the daytime high temps rebound to after the cold night?
Florida and Ca zone 9 are so very different.

[shot]

Banks variety soursop out of palmbeach seems more hardy.I bought one from Hopkins nursery back in the 90s and it has shown resilience(mediocre fruit) and it is grafted variety.
 Jf had some fiberless yucatan seeds I grew that are from 2 to 5 feet tall now that took mid 40s temps with 0% to 20% leaf damage.But in past I note that small soursops tend to strongly hold their leaves in winter ,survival genes? as they have little carbohydrates reserves.
 Other old random seed trees in poor health have up to 100% leaf drop

[Tropical Bay Area]

Mine already defoliated when the temps reached 48F.

You probably had too much wind. This is normal for soursop if the tree is under stress

Mine is in a greenhouse where there is no wind. Also in your previous post you said that kill temp was at 27.5 now you state that they easily die below 36. 

sorry my auto correct did that. i meant young trees, but huge trees kill temp is somewhere between 27.5 and 28 degreees F. if you have a huge and established tree, 5+ yrs old, it might still die but it might make it. theres a lot of factors impacting this. fourtunatley they tend to grow pretty fast

[bovine421]

Mine already defoliated when the temps reached 48F.

You probably had too much wind. This is normal for soursop if the tree is under stress

Mine is in a greenhouse where there is no wind. Also in your previous post you said that kill temp was at 27.5 now you state that they easily die below 36. 

sorry my auto correct did that. i meant young trees, but huge trees kill temp is somewhere between 27.5 and 28 degreees F. if you have a huge and established tree, 5+ yrs old, it might still die but it might make it. theres a lot of factors impacting this. fourtunatley they tend to grow pretty fast

That's quite all right. happy holidays to you and yours

[Tropical Bay Area]

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[Tropical Bay Area]

Many accounts of people have fruited it in zone 9b. Just stop protecting it when it’s too bid. Get it established. Life in Florida, fort Myers food forest , and some other people on yet have fruited soursop in zone 9b. Below 27.5 is kill temp.

27° huh! I don't think that I could survive that even with a frost blanket 4 more than a couple of hours

lol, could totally relate yes, the native area also inpacts it. if every single seed grown tree would be a named cultiviar, the list would go on and on and on... the ones that have been hybridized with other ones in the genus guanabanas(sub-genus of annona) particularly mountain soursop, would have more cold tolerance. also elevation and humidity could play a role. higher mineral levels means it doesn't freeze untill a couple degrees under 32. just like the sea wont freeze because of the other minerals(including salt).

[Iceman716238]

All of my trees did fine with a 37 degree night except my soursop...... dropped about 90% of its leaves. Been in ground for 2 years BTW.

[Iceman716238]

This was it two weeks ago

[Tropical Bay Area]

All of my trees did fine with a 37 degree night except my soursop...... dropped about 90% of its leaves. Been in ground for 2 years BTW.

Looks pretty good considering it was exposed to 37... give us an update -leave when it gets below freezing, I only protect if it is a young plant OR if it get s below 30, below 30 is when you should worry about soursop. Any temp and or above 30 is fine.

[Galatians522]

For the record, keeping a tree alive and getting fruit are two different things. I watched a fully mature soursop that had been planted up against the south side of a building in a large asphalt parking lot just south of Avon Park for a number of years. Other than its remarkably ideal situation, it recieved no other protection. The tree survived in 9b but failed to fruit. By late summer it would have recovered from the cold and would bloom. This did not give the fruit enough time to ripen before winter. Sadly, the tree was cut down 2 years ago, so I can't observe it anymore.

However, durring the warmest year here that I can ever remember (last year) we did harvest a soursop that made it all the way through the winter.

[Tropical Bay Area]

For the record, keeping a tree alive and getting fruit are two different things. I watched a fully mature soursop that had been planted up against the south side of a building in a large asphalt parking lot just south of Avon Park for a number of years. Other than its remarkably ideal situation, it recieved no other protection. The tree survived in 9b but failed to fruit. By late summer it would have recovered from the cold and would bloom. This did not give the fruit enough time to ripen before winter. Sadly, the tree was cut down 2 years ago, so I can't observe it anymore.

However, durring the warmest year here that I can ever remember (last year) we did harvest a soursop that made it all the way through the winter.

Yummmmmmmmmm... how low did it take?

[Galatians522]

We actually gave it away to an Indonesian friend, so I didn't get to taste it. It took 4-5 years from seed if my memory is correct.

[Galatians522]

Ah! I see your post said low not long. I don't know the exact low where the tree was (at my Dad's place). But I only had one very mild frost last year (only on the roof shingles) at my place. I doubt that the tree actually experienced any frost where it was because it is in a very protected location.

[Tropical Bay Area]

Ah! I see your post said low not long. I don't know the exact low where the tree was (at my Dad's place). But I only had one very mild frost last year (only on the roof shingles) at my place. I doubt that the tree actually experienced any frost where it was because it is in a very protected location.

Lucky.. I think below 30 degrees is when you sjouke worry about soursop... evnnif it gets to 32, it will merely be a setback. He tree will regrow if you get heat and it will fruit if there’s a mild winter. If it doesn’t get below 34 then it should fruit.

[bovine421]

I still think your best chance of success in 9b  is to grow it as a container plant and bring it into Greenhouse for winter. For instance  a 18-month cycle plantain you'll be lucky to get fruit once every 3 years  That's why I've gone to short cycle plantain. In theory things sound nice and dandy but usually the reality stinks

I'm from Missouri so show me! Not a Bing image of someone else's success.

[Tropical Bay Area]

I still think your best chance of success in 9b  is to grow it as a container plant and bring it into Greenhouse for winter. For instance  a 18-month cycle plantain you'll be lucky to get fruit once every 3 years  That's why I've gone to short cycle plantain. In theory things sound nice and dandy but usually the reality stinks

I'm from Missouri so show me! Not a Bing image of someone else's success.

I only have seed. I’ll update u in 6 yrs

[bovine421]

I still think your best chance of success in 9b  is to grow it as a container plant and bring it into Greenhouse for winter. For instance  a 18-month cycle plantain you'll be lucky to get fruit once every 3 years  That's why I've gone to short cycle plantain. In theory things sound nice and dandy but usually the reality stinks

I'm from Missouri so show me! Not a Bing image of someone else's success.

I only have seed. I’ll update u in 6 yrs

I applaud Your Enthusiasm and knowledge of your seedlings and you will have success. There are inexpensive LED grow lights that do not use much electricity.  During the cold rainy season you might want to make one of them your roommate. LOL

[bovine421]

I still think your best chance of success in 9b  is to grow it as a container plant and bring it into Greenhouse for winter. For instance  a 18-month cycle plantain you'll be lucky to get fruit once every 3 years  That's why I've gone to short cycle plantain. In theory things sound nice and dandy but usually the reality stinks

I'm from Missouri so show me! Not a Bing image of someone else's success.

I only have seed. I’ll update u in 6 yrs

I applaud Your Enthusiasm and knowledge of your seedlings and you will have success. There are inexpensive LED grow lights that do not use much electricity.  During the cold rainy season you might want to make one of them your roommate. LOL

[Tropical Bay Area]

I still think your best chance of success in 9b  is to grow it as a container plant and bring it into Greenhouse for winter. For instance  a 18-month cycle plantain you'll be lucky to get fruit once every 3 years  That's why I've gone to short cycle plantain. In theory things sound nice and dandy but usually the reality stinks

I'm from Missouri so show me! Not a Bing image of someone else's success.

I only have seed. I’ll update u in 6 yrs

I applaud Your Enthusiasm and knowledge of your seedlings and you will have success. There are inexpensive LED grow lights that do not use much electricity.  During the cold rainy season you might want to make one of them your roommate. LOL

ah yes, the roomate is my 1st aid if i ever get cance. lol but i live in a house, i dont really have roomates just me, 10 yrs old and my family.